By Jimmy Zwane
17 October 2025
2025 has been declared the International Year of Quantum, but few expected the most exciting developments in the field to emerge from the Global South. In Johannesburg, a team at Wits University is helping reshape the global quantum landscape — and in the process, redefining Africa’s role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Led by Distinguished Professor Andrew Forbes, the Wits Quantum (WitsQ) team has made a breakthrough that could tip the scales in the global race for quantum supremacy. They’ve solved one of the most stubborn problems in quantum computing: noise.
And no — we’re not talking about sound.
In the quantum realm, noise can mean anything that interferes with fragile quantum systems: ambient light, a speck of dust, a weather fluctuation. All of these can break the link between entangled particles — the basis of quantum communication and computation.
Entanglement, famously dubbed “spooky action at a distance” by Einstein, allows two particles to mirror each other’s states, no matter the distance between them. It’s what makes quantum tech so powerful — but also so precarious.
Forbes and his team have managed to build a system that stays stable even in the presence of noise. Their secret? Topology — the branch of mathematics dealing with shapes and spatial properties.
“Topology is proving to be a powerful tool for encoding quantum information,” Forbes explains. “As long as some entanglement remains, the information is protected from environmental noise.”
The result: a more robust foundation for quantum computers and communication networks. Faster. Safer. More energy-efficient. And crucially, potentially scalable in African conditions.
From the Lab to the World
The discovery has not remained locked in a lab. Wits is collaborating with China’s Huzhou University — blending South African innovation with Chinese manufacturing might. The alliance aims to loosen the grip of US and European dominance in quantum tech.
“We can either hoard knowledge and make slow progress,” Forbes says, “or share and move faster together.”
This philosophy underpins South Africa’s broader strategy. Forbes also heads the country’s Quantum Roadmap, a government-funded initiative seeding quantum research projects nationwide. The plan is bold: to create a homegrown quantum economy that solves local problems and competes on the world stage.
Quantum computing’s potential is vast. Unlike classical computers, which process one possibility at a time, quantum systems can evaluate multiple outcomes simultaneously. This makes them ideal for optimisation problems — from logistics and drug discovery to energy systems and climate modelling.
“Less hardware, more power,” says Dr Isaac Nape, a key member of the WitsQ team and South Africa’s first Quantum Initiative Emerging Leader. “Quantum tech isn’t about building bigger computers. It’s about building smarter ones.”
Ethics, Security, and the Quantum Unknown
But with power comes risk.
Quantum systems could be used for surveillance, decryption, and even cyber warfare. Already, China has developed surveillance gear that can detect objects 30km away. At the same time, quantum encryption promises the most secure communication protocols ever conceived — unhackable, unbreakable, and invisible to third parties.
Forbes and his team are navigating this ethical minefield carefully. Through the WitsQ Initiative, they’re working with lawyers, ethicists, and policymakers to ensure that Africa’s quantum leap doesn’t outpace its moral compass.
“Right now, no one is really responsible for setting ethical guardrails in quantum science,” Forbes warns. “We have to build that into our development from day one.”
WitsQ’s holistic approach blends research, education, industry partnerships, and public engagement. Forbes likens it to the smartphone revolution: you didn’t need to build the phone to be part of the economy — you just needed to create an app.
Quantum, he says, will be no different.
Africa’s Quantum Moment
While most commercial advances are still happening in the private sector — notably via IBM and Google — academia remains critical. Wits is Africa’s first partner in the IBM Q Network, gaining access to cutting-edge 50-qubit machines and seed funding to keep pushing the envelope.
Wits’ place on the quantum map is now undeniable. From policy to particles, it’s leading a quiet revolution — one that might soon be anything but quiet.
The world may still struggle to “understand” quantum mechanics, as Richard Feynman famously admitted. But in Johannesburg, one thing is clear: Africa isn’t just joining the race — it’s setting the pace.
Jimmy Zwane is a South African science and technology journalist covering innovation, infrastructure, and the future of work.
